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ARTS & CULTURE
08
KANSAN.COM
Graduate addresses sexual assault with feature film
KATE MILLER
@_Kate_Miller_
Benjamin Waller, who graduated this May, created a feature film entitled "The Hardest Thing to Earn," which deals with sexual assault.
VICKY DÍAZ-CAMACHO/KANSAN
It's a classic story: boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Boy loses girl. But recent graduate Benjamin Waller, from Alton, Ill., wanted to portray something different with his final film at the University.
"It's a relationship movie at the core," Waller said. "It's guy meets girl, strikes up relationship, and things pretty much go bad. Both these characters are very flawed; their relationship never really connects because of miscommunication. That's one of the core themes of the film."
The film, "The Hardest Thing to Earn," was created for Waller's honors project. The feature film runs 80 minutes long and is one of the longest to be produced by a student within the Department of Film and Media Studies.
Waller, who wrote the script, produced, directed and edited the film, chose the title from one of his favorite quotes: "Love is the most beautiful thing to have, the hardest thing to earn, and most painful thing to lose."
"It's a drama with some awkwardly comic moments; it's a bit of a genre blend," he said. "I refer to the film as a dark romantic dramedy."
The film involved a cast largely comprised of students within the film and media studies department. All cast and crew members volunteered their time to work on the film, which began shooting last October.
Waller started writing the script last July.
"I wanted to make something that I could make, first of all," he said. "For this, I needed to write something that logically you were able to actually make the film on a low budget."
Although the film deals with issues of sexual assault, Waller said the prevalence of sexual assault on high school and college campuses — especially involving alcohol — didn't cross his mind when he first wrote the script. As the story began to develop, he realized how important the film could be.
“[Sexual assault] is such a huge issue globally, especially overseas, and it's not only accepted, but condoned," he said. "It's just an issue that's very personal to me. I've always been attracted to social issues when writing. It's just impossible to take on such a huge subject in such a short period of time. I just wanted to approach it on a personal level with a character-driven film."
Jordyn Cox, a recent graduate from Wichita, plays the lead role of the girlfriend. "The Hardest Thing to Earn" is her first feature film appearance.
"It was a challenge at times," Cox said. "I've always really enjoyed roles that have a lot of depth to them, where you can explore not only the character's past but the character's emotions, their dreams, their fears. It was really great to have a character who is incredibly complex."
With the production process lasting nine months, Waller and Cox both said the cast and crew of the film created strong bonds — their favorite memories from the process.
As the actor who carries the film's message, the casting of Cox in the lead role was a key moment for Waller.
"Making a feature film is hard," he said. "It's the camaraderie that really kept us going. There were lots of long days and long nights. None of us were getting paid; I've sunk thousands of dollars of my own money into it."
"What attracted me to Jordyn was that she looked the part and nailed the audition, but she has a very vulnerable quality about her," Waller said.
For Cox, the message of the film stands out more than anything else.
"It's really been an amazing opportunity that we've been able to work as a team and make this movie about an issue that is so important," Cox said. "The hope with the film is to bring light to this issue and to have people realize this is a problem — something does need to be done about this. We really hope this film will be a way to spark that conversation."
The crew shot the film at various locations around and outside the city, including the abandoned high school in Lecompton. The assistance from the Lawrence community was instrumental in the success of the film, Waller said.
"I really learned that you need the help of the community to get a film made on a low budget," he said. "Without them, it couldn't have been possible; the community was awesome. We got all these cool locations."
Waller plans to premiere the film at Liberty Hall late in July. After that, he hopes the film will make the film
festival circuit.
"Hopefully we can get it into some respected film festivals and get it seen and get our name out there," he said. "That's really the goal."
"We're taking on a controversial issue that a lot of people want to turn a blind eye to. I kind of lay it all out there and show you exactly what
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these victims go through. It's not easy to watch at times, but hopefully it can change people's hearts and minds."
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